Captured and Changed
by Kuyo The Hunter
Summary: Your name is Sollux Captor, or at least you think that used to be your name, you're more used to being called SC202 now. Had you known a trip to the park would not only leave you as an orphan, but also genetic experiment, then, then you would've told your dad you wanted to stay home this day.
1. Prologue

My first story for Homestuck :) You can find this on AO3 as well where I'll add pictures/art when I make some :)

 **Trigger warnings:**

Character death, child abuse, strong language, human experimentation, genetic engineering and many others.

The pairing is **Sollux x Karkat** , which means M/M, this won't happen until the later part of the fic, so there is a long way there still, but still: **don't like then don't read** , I won't force you.

I have mayor plots in the story noted down, but I'm always open for suggestions and ideas, so got any ideas you want to share? Just leave a review or PM me :) Updates WILL be irregular, but I will finish this one no mater how long it takes XD

So without further due, please read and write what you think :)

 **\- Prologue -**

It's quiet in the block. Dark, sterile and gloomy. Bared cell doors running along the whole corridor, some housing only dark stains left by it's now dead inhabitant and some with creatures that at first sight wouldn't classify as human. The noise coming from one cell in particular isn't a rare occurrence. Insanity has griped them all, some more than others, but from the cage labeled GE-23 is the most frequent.

"Thut up, thut up, thut up, THUTUPTHUTUP!" The once human rambles, clutching his head in pain while digging the sharp claws into his scalp in a weak attempt to shut the voices up. On his gray tinted arm hangs an identification bracelet with the number GE-23-SC202, part of the same number can be seen branded into the back of his neck, partly hidden by the neck of a dirty T-shirt. The other occupant in the room, this one with the tag GE-23-MC201, tries to calm the other down without coming to close. The last time he got physical when his brother was like this, his shoulder was left with some nasty scars.

"Thol, c-calm down, don't hurt yourthelf, it won't thop _them_."

"…Tuna?" The other cries out softly, almost sounding confused at the other's presence "It hurtth, everything hurtth…" he mumbles as he shifts from clawing his scalp out to rubbing the sides of his head, where the skin has become swollen and formed four bumps, two on each side….


	2. Taken

My first story for Homestuck :) You can find this on AO3 as well where I'll add pictures/art when I make some :)

 **Trigger warnings:**

Character death, child abuse, strong language, human experimentation, genetic engineering and many others.

The pairing is **Sollux x Karkat** , which means M/M, this won't happen until the later part of the fic, so there is a long way there still, but still: **don't like then don't read** , I won't force you.

I have mayor plots in the story noted down, but I'm always open for suggestions and ideas, so got any ideas you want to share? Just leave a review or PM me :) Updates WILL be irregular, but I will finish this one no mater how long it takes XD

So without further due, please read and write what you think :)

 **\- Chapter 1: Taken -**

"Dad! Can we go to the park, pleathe?" Mituna asks their father with his little brother Sollux next to him. Simon smiles fondly at them from the kitchen table "Of course we can, why don't you help Sollux with his shoes while I clean up here?"

"Okay! Come here Thol." Mituna calls as the two makes their way to the hallway, talking about what they were going to play when they got to the park.

Simon can't help but to smile at the boys antics, they were all he had left after their mother passed away giving birth to Sollux six years ago. Simon was worried that the complicated birth had effected the youngest in some way. He had noticed that Sollux had a tendency to swap between emotions really quickly. He could go from happy to sad to angry in the run of mere seconds, but other than that Sollux was a spitting image of him, while Mituna had inherited their mother's lightly curled hair. Both had dirty blond hair and brown eyes like him and he blamed his genes for the slight lisp both his sons had, hopefully they will grow out of it like he had.

The walk to the park was uneventful and both his sons did as they were told, always look both ways before crossing a street and so on. But when they made it to the park, they were basically all over the place. As Simon makes his way towards a bench to sit and watch over his playing sons, someone or rather something rams into him and makes both fall over. The culprit turns out to be a huge white dog and what looks to be its owner running up to them out of breath.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry! Bec you have been a really naughty dog, bad dog, now come here, just like that, good dog." Simon can only stare at the spectacle taking place in front of him. "I'm really sorry for Bec, mister; he tore free from the leash before I had time to react. Here let me help you up." It was first now that Simon notice that he's still down on the walk way and grabs the offered hand with a smile.

"Don't worry son, no harm done."

"You sure? I know how much it can hurt when Bec does something like that." The teenager asks unsurely.

"Positive." Simon reassures with a smile.

"O-okay then. Have a good day mister! Come here Bec, wait till Grandpa and little Jade will hear about this, no treats for you for a week!" Simon can hear the teenager say to the large dog as they walk away. Chuckling lightly he scans the area after his sons, but feel his heart grow cold as he can't see them. _'Nononononono! NO! Take a deep breath, no need to panic. They're here somewhere… just, keep calm and call for them.'_ So that's what he does.

,,-,,

"Thol, I think we thould go back to dad now, he told uth to keep in thight." Mituna tells his brother; he knows how worried their dad gets whenever they disappear. They had been playing pirates and their search for hidden treasures had leaded them into the woods next to the park.

But apparently his two year younger brother will have nothing of that, signaling that he's having one of his worse moments. "No! I DUN WANNA!"

"But Tho-"

"NO! I DU-!" A sudden snap of a twig and rustle in the bushes silence him and makes him scurry fast to his brother. "Can we go find dad now?" He asks quietly and clings tightly to his brother's arm. "Y-yeah, let'th go…" Mituna says quietly as they make their way back towards the park. They have only gotten a few steps before something round, a ball made of metal by the looks, comes rolling from the bushes and stops in front of them.

"What'th that?" was the only thing Sollux had time to ask before the ball starts to leak out some sort of gas. It frightens them when they start to cough from the smoke, their world turning black as they fall to the ground in an unconscious heap.

When unconscious, two men pick them up. "Jackpot wouldn't you say, Jack?" The shorter of the two asks.

"It's always a jackpot when we manage to grab someone; it's just more preferably when you get two at the same time." The taller man with a scar over his right eye hisses out. "Now to take care of the guardian." Jack smiles sinisterly as he clutches the knife in his pocket with anticipation.

,,-,,

"Mituna! Sollux! Where are you?!" Simon calls worriedly; he has been searching for around twenty minutes but still nothing. Usually they would come as soon as he started to call on them. He drags a hand through his hair as he tries to calm down and not go into full blown panic mode, but it did little to calm his nerves.

"Is something wrong?" A gruff voice asks behind him, making Simon turn around fast in surprise.

"I-I can't find my sons, have you seen them? They're around eight years old, about this tall" he points to his mid-thigh "and have dirty blond hair and brown eyes." Worry and fear clear on his face as he quickly explains.

"Now that you mention it, I did see two boys in the woods over there. Want me to take you there?" The stranger asks pointing over his shoulder in a casual manner. While Simon has an uneasy feeling towards the stranger, he feels that he can't turn down the help.

"Please do." He says with a determined face.

,,-,,

After walking a bit and still nothing Simon can't stop himself from asking "You sure you saw them around here?"

"Yeah, just a little bit further in."

"Sollux! Mituna!" Simon yells in relief as he spots his sons leaning towards a tree fast asleep. "Thank you, thank you so much!" He tells the scarred man, shaking his hand vigorously with gratitude "You have no ide-!" He stops abruptly as his chest goes numb, shock evident on his face as he shakily looks down on his chest. Where to his horror a knife is sticking out and around it, a rose of blood starts to grow rapidly. "Wha-….." is the only thing he manages to get out before he crumbles to the forest floor, his unseeing eyes staring up at the leafy roof.


	3. New Home

My first story for Homestuck :) You can find this on AO3 as well where I'll add pictures/art when I make some :)

 **Trigger warnings:**

Character death, child abuse, strong language, human experimentation, genetic engineering and many others.

The pairing is **Sollux x Karkat** , which means M/M, this won't happen until the later part of the fic, so there is a long way there still, but still: **don't like then don't read** , I won't force you.

I have mayor plots in the story noted down, but I'm always open for suggestions and ideas, so got any ideas you want to share? Just leave a review or PM me :) Updates WILL be irregular, but I will finish this one no mater how long it takes XD

So without further due, please read and write what you think :)

 **\- Chapter 2: New Home -**

No matter how many times he calls, he just keeps getting to the voice mail. He sighs as he put the phone down and glances around his work office, nothing out of the usual, except for maybe the lack of papers on his desk. The town has been strangely quiet as of late, but it's a good quiet, last year had been very hectic with all robberies, murders and people going missing. Both the Midnight Crew and The Felt as well had been in the town at the same time, but now it looks like both gangs have disappeared for the time being.

Carmine looks down at his phone again, contemplating whether he should try calling his longtime friend again or not. One more time before his brake ends won't hurt.

Dialing… _You have reached Simon Captor automatic responder. I can't take your call at the moment, please try later or leave a message after the buzz._ He chooses to end the call there; this isn't unusual for his friend to pull. ' _That man gets_ way _to easily caught up in his computer coding_.' Carmine muses with a slight smirk playing on his lips, just then a knock from the door to his office is heard and one of his co-workers opens the door with a grim face. "We have a homicide at the local park."

 _'_ _So much for quiet…'_ He thinks, returning the grim face while he as quickly as possible makes himself ready to head out.

,,-,,

"Any witness?" Carmine asks as they make their way towards the scene, the police had so far closed of the area in the forest around the park.

"Not as of yet." The other replies.

"-then I talked with him for a couple of minutes!" A young man's voice is heard as they come closer to the scene. The man in question can't be more than twenty years old and looks worriedly pale.

"Sir," the police man tried "you need to calm down and tell us if you saw anything."

The adolescent takes a couple of deep breaths as he fiddles with the dog leash. "Bec tore loose from my grip and accidentally knocked him over. T-then we talked for a couple of minutes a-and then I continued with my round… Bloody hell, the bloke was alive just a couple of hours ago a-and now he's j-just… gone..." He nervously drags a hand through his hair as he tries to keep his calm and lets his eyes sweep around the area, it was then he laid eyes on the two approaching officers.

"Hello. Criminal investigator, Carmine Vantas, this is my college Henrik Wild. We got a call about a homicide." Carmine introduces himself as he shows the officer his badge.

"Ah, yes, male about mid thirty's just over there." The officer points where they're collecting evidence. "We believe it to be murder, but as of yet we can't rule out suicide."

"I see. What's your name young man?" Carmine asks as he turns towards the witness.

"J-Jake Ha-Harley, sir.

"Is there anything else you could tell us about the victim? Did you see him with anyone?"

Jake just shakes his head sadly "Sorry, sir, not what I can think of… or… maybe. I think I saw him with two kids around 8 or something; I didn't pay too much attention though."

At Harley's words Carmine feel his heart grow cold and it feels like he has a stone in his belly. _'You're drawing conclusions to fast, he's just at work coding, no need to panic, he does this every time.'_ "Thank you for your co-operation Mr. Harley." He says and hands the adolescent his card, "In case you remember anything else. Come 'on Henrik, better see what they've found."

As they walk closer, Carmine's heart grows heavier and heavier, and when his eyes finally falls on the body, it's like his insides freeze. He doesn't want to acknowledge that his best friend's dead, laying just a couple of meters away from him, unable to ever move or talk to him again. A choked sob escapes him and he can't keep himself composed any longer. "No… no, NO, nonononono, Simon!" He cries out, Henrik, not knowing what to do, squish his shoulder tightly, letting his partner know he's there if needed.

"You knew the victim, sir?" One of the investigators asks sadly.

"Y-yes, his name- his name's S-Simon Ca-Captor. He h-has two sons, Mi-Mituna, 8 years old and S-Sollux, 6 years old. W-wife deceased." Carmine manages to get out through his labored breathing, never before has it felt hard to speak or breathe.

,,-,,

When Carmine gets home the first thing he's greeted with is his youngest son's pout. "What's wrong Karkat?" He asks sadly.

"Sol is being a meanie and not answering! He said we could play Sburb today!" He complains while pulling his father's pant leg.

This makes Carmine break down again and he falls down on his knees and hugs his son tightly. "Dad, what's wrong? Why are you crying? You never cry!" Karkat asks confused, he's never seen his dad cry like this before.

"K-Karcrab, S-Sollux and Mituna are missing a-and S-Simon, oh God Simon, Simon is _dead_!" He cries out, tears cascading down. An audible gasp from the kitchen door is the only warning before his wife, Diz, embraces both of them tightly, crying together with her husband.

Karkat doesn't understand what's happening. "Missing? When will he be back? I wanna play with him, he promised…"

"I don't know, Karkat, I don't know."

,,-,,

He wakes up in a cold dark room with bars on one side, and to his great relief, his older brother next to him. Wherever they are, they are at least in it together. Looking more around, Sollux notice that there are more children here than just him and his brother. They all look like they're a couple of years older than him, making them around Mituna's age, but he hopes they can get along if it comes to that. He winces as his head gives a violent throb and he tries to stifle the pained noise that threatens to come out, only to succeed partly.

"Looks like the squirt is awake." An unknown male voice rings out in the dim room.

The voice sounds cold and uncaring and it makes Sollux feel even more uneasy. He can feel his emotions starting to spiral out of control again and he feverishly tries to calm himself down. It isn't working! And he only grows even more scared has his breathing speeds up, he can't breathe, _he can't breathe_! And when he thinks he will fall asleep unwillingly again, his brother hugs him closely and shushes him gently. Sollux starts to sob in relief as Mituna keeps petting and stroking his hair, his big brother has always had a knack of calming him down like this.

"Thhhhhh Thollukth, everything will be okay. Juth calm down, I got you." The older hushes.

"Well don't you two look eager?" The man says as he peers into their cell, making the two brothers flinch and huddle together even closer; the man is scary! He's way bigger than their father, both in height and bulk and his arms almost looks like tree trunks. His light brown hair is cropped short and his face is set in a sadistic amusement.

"Hektor! Stop fooling around and bring them here, the team wants to have a proper look at them before deciding what to test on them. And it's easier for them to do a checkup if the subjects aren't reeled up like that!" Another male voice rings out, a bit younger, but just as uncaring with a slight annoyed tone to it.

"Well aren't you lucky that Dain was here, brats. Now, come here!" He says while grabbing the boys by their hair, dragging them out with force, causing them to cry out in pain and fright. "Will the two of you SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He roars and shakes them a little, effectively stunning them into silence for the time being.

"I just told you not to do that…" The other groans as he cower his face with a hand. Now visible to the children, Sollux can see that Dain is indeed younger and also smaller even if it isn't by much. His dark hair is styled backwards making it hard to determine how long it is.

"Eh, they need to learn their place early, unless they'll get ideas. So I'm really doing everyone a big fucking favor." Hektor says carelessly.

"Just bring them to the doctors."

The other just smiles and releases his hold on their hair, only to switch to holding their hands painfully.

,,-,,

The burly man drags them to what seems to be "the doctors" room and bangs hard on the door. _'Is he always this violent?'_ Sollux thinks and both brothers flinch in fright when the man, Hektor was it? Shouts that he has "two more sniveling brats waiting to be _evaluated_ ", whatever that means. The door opens nearly instantly after those words leave the man's mouth.

"Excellent. Give them here." The doctor orders the brute; he's surprisingly young for being a doctor and has middle long brown reddish hair, and looks down on the children with a calculating look. "I thought I told you specifically not to rile up the specimens like this." He says with a sneer.

"I'll tell _you_ what I told _Dain_ , the sooner they learn their place the better. I heard the rumor from an earlier batch and I for one, don't want to lose my hand for no reason. You're not the one that contains," he gives Sollux's arm a violent shake, "these monsters when they grow older. And if you got any other complains on how I handle _these_ , then take it up with Doc Scratch."

The doctor just glares at the man. "I'll keep that in mind, but still, you have all the time in the world to establish your position on the hierarchy over mere children, _after_ the evaluating is complete. And if you got any complains on how I handle _this_ , then _you_ can take it up with Doc Scratch." The doctor mimics mockingly.

The older man just grumbles angrily and shows both Mituna and Sollux at the doctor and stomps off.

"That man…" The doctor starts, irritation clear in his voice.

"Thcary…" Sollux mumbles out loud, and then freeze when he realize what he just did.

The doctor looks at him with a mild interest before adding with a smirk. "I suppose so." He opens the door fully "Welcome, to the beginning of your new life."

The brothers' looks at each other and despite being so young, Sollux can't help but to think that something isn't quite right with what the man just said, almost ominous sounding.

,,-,,

"What's your name?"

"T-Thollukth…"

The doctor, Morton he recalls, frowns upon his clipboard. "Your full name and try speak without that hideous lisp."

Whit his little heart hammering hard in its cage, Sollux tries again, "T-T-Stholluksth C-Captor…" He can't say it, it sounds even worse when he tries to force the 's' sound out, just a garbled mess that no one understands and why can't he TALKLIKEEVERYONEELSE?! Oh, ohno, nononono, where's Tuna? Where is his brother? The other doctor, Kain, Kain took him! His breathing is going out of control again, his eyes widen and without thinking of the consequences he blurts out;

"I want my brother, I want Tuna!" His voice has a slight panicked edge to it. The narrowing of the man's eyes goes unnoticed by the child.

"You will see each other later. Can you read?" Morton asks with a bored tone, still glaring at the child.

The random question almost manages to snap him out of the panic. "Y-yeth?" Sollux answers hesitantly, he can only read a little though.

"Is this the correct spelling on your name?" The man asks as he hands over the clipboard.

"It'th thupothed to be an 'ekth' at the end, not a 'kay' and an 'eth'." He corrects shyly, he really wants his brother now.

"Age?"

"Thikth."

And the list went on, not only with weight, height and eye check, the Doctor also wanted a blood sample but when he brought out the needle Sollux freaked out.

"NO NONONO, I NEED TUNA NO-!" Sollux shrieks when he sees the needle but ends the sentence abrupt when an open palm connects with his cheek, stunning him into silence. He looks wide eyed at the doctor and when the pain finally starts to register he can't keep himself from crying.

"Will you be so damn kind and shut the fuck up!" The doctor yells as he yanks on Sollux's hair, which only makes him cry even louder. A violent jerk makes the crying pause as Sollux tries to find his bearing again, his lower lip trembling. "If you don't stop with this nonsense, I _won't_ make this as painless as possible, sooner or later you'll get used to these and I suggest sooner rather than later for your own sake." Dr. Morton says in a low dangerous tone.

Sollux draws in a shuddering breath, but keeps quiet as the tears still finds their way down his cheeks and looks away when the needle nears his skin. He can feel it when the needle breaks the skin surface with a sting, not as painful as the bee sting he acquired couple of months ago, but still painful for him.

"See, wasn't so bad now was it?" The mocking praise is accompanied with a small pat on his head that just makes him feel ill.

 _'_ _Why isn't dad here?'_ Sollux wonders worriedly as Dr. Morton forces him to lie down on his stomach and attaches a small white band on his left arm with "GE-23-SC202" printed on it. It reminds him about the bracelets he's seen patients have in movies. It doesn't stop with the bracelets however; Dr. Morton also ties the rest of his body down to the examination table and orders him "not to move". The implication has Sollux looking around with panicked eyes and stiffens when he hear a strange sizzling sound and then his world explodes in _PAIN_.

The scream or rather screech that leaves him makes him taste blood in his mouth, even Dr. Morton winches at the volume as the presses the sizzling _thing_ harder against the base of his neck. The initial pain almost causes him to black out, he tries to move away from the object, but the straps holding him won't budge at all! He's completely immobile where he's strapped down to the examination table. He tries to move his head away, but the doctor has had enough and takes a steady grip on his head and the white hot pain. _Just_. _Won't_. _Let_. _Up_. The sizzling sound _won't stop_ and the burnt smell of his skin makes him retch where he lies screaming, kicking and the tears fall like torrents down his cheeks. Why was the man doing this? Had Sollux done something bad? Was it because he screamed before?

He doesn't know for how long the torture goes on, but when the thing is finally removed he lets out a sob of relief. The burning agony still remained, but at least now the metal wasn't on him anymore, but the burning pain would still remain for several days.

He's almost surprised when Dr. Morton dresses the inflicted wound with a cool soothing salve and bandage. After that he's lead through corridors upon corridors filled with doors on the sides and big windows, where one can see all kinds of different equipment and big computer monitors. Even if he's scared, Sollux is in awe with all the technology. How many times hadn't their father brought home computers only to pick them apart and then put them together again?

The man leads him through a big door with the letters GE printed on them and what he sees shortly after can only be described as pure nightmare. The stench of decay that slams into him makes his eyes water and he can't stop the retching sounds that escapes him. To his horror it doesn't end there, the walls are littered with cells, each one of them has their own number, but not all of them has someone in them. But those that has, they are sick looking and something was off with them as well, but Sollux's traumatized mind can't for his life figure out what it is at the moment.

They finally stop outside the cell labeled GE-23, where he's abruptly pushed in and lands heavily on his hands and knees. A small whimper leaves him, but he can't say if it's from his skinned hands and knees or from his neck that's throbbing violently with each beat of his tiny heart.

"Thol?" Comes a quivering voice from the furthest corner.

"Tuna?… Tuna!" Sollux cries out as he hurries over to his big brother, who embraces his little brother in relief. They sit like this for a while, seeking comfort and warmth in each other's presence.

"Tuna?"

"…ye?"

"I wanna go home now…"

"Me too, Thol, me too…" Mituna says as he hugs his trembling brother closer.


	4. First Injection

My first story for Homestuck :) You can find this on AO3 as well where I'll add pictures/art when I make some :)

 **Trigger warnings:**

Character death, child abuse, strong language, human experimentation, genetic engineering and many others.

The pairing is **Sollux x Karkat** , which means M/M, this won't happen until the later part of the fic, so there is a long way there still, but still: **don't like then don't read** , I won't force you.

I have mayor plots in the story noted down, but I'm always open for suggestions and ideas, so got any ideas you want to share? Just leave a review or PM me :) Updates WILL be irregular, but I will finish this one no mater how long it takes XD

So without further due, please read and write what you think :)

 **\- Chapter 3: First Injection -**

A loud banging on the cell bars makes the two brothers lurch awake from their sleep only to cry out when their necks gives a painful throb.

"And here I whithed thith wath all a bad dream." Mituna grumbles as he massages his sore neck.

"Tuna, I want daddy." Sollux whimpers out as he clings close to his brother's thin frame, seeking any kind of comfort he can get. Mituna, who feels the same way, holds his baby brother close.

"I know Thol, I want daddy too." He says as he pets the younger's hair, avoiding the neck to his best ability.

"You two at the front NOW!" A grown man's voice rings out followed by another loud bang on their cell. Startling the two once again, before they hesitantly moves towards the door. Their faces pales when they see who it is; Hektor, the huge scary man from the previous night. The man's lips stretches into a sinister smile when he too recognize the two children. "Well, well, if it isn't the squirts! Who'd thought I'd be the one in charge of you two during your stay here!" He laughs out.

Sollux doesn't like the way Hektor laughs; it reminds him too much about the villains in the movies his dad enjoys watching. A pang of longing surges through him, he really, REALLY wishes his dad was here now.

A sudden movement from the imposing man has him flinching and shying away behind his brother. Sollux breathes a sigh of relief when it was just the cell door opening.

"Now, are the two of you going to follow me willingly to Doctor Kain's _appointment_ , or am I going to drag you there?" By the look on the man's face, he wants to drag them there no matter what the brothers have to say about it. This is proven true when he grabs them by the arms and starts walking with no care what so ever that their feet barely touch the cold floor.

"We can walk, we can walk!" They cry out in choir, hoping the man will let go of them.

"Then prove it." Hektor says as he throws them in front of him, making them stumble before they regain their balance.

 _'_ _Sourpuss.'_ Sollux thinks with a frown etched on his face as he massages his arm.

,,-,,

Sollux's first thought about Dr. Kain, is that he looks like super old, way older than what Dr. Morton did. For starters he has gray patches in his short black hair… and wrinkles, several wrinkles on his forehead, like he's been frowning a lot. And he also looks nicer than Dr. Morton; he doesn't look like he enjoys causing pain, more like he sees it as a necessity that can't be avoided sometimes?

The Doctors face lights up when he sees Mituna "Ah, MC201! Is the neck causing a lot of discomfort?"

"Y-yeth?" Mituna answers uncertainly as he rubs the aching area, neither he nor Sollux had anticipated this reaction from the doctor and then Dr. Kain lays his eyes onto the younger of the two.

"I don't recognize you, but I can see the similarities between you, are you two by any chance brothers?" A small uncertain nod, "Splendid! It's always so exciting to see how blood relatives react towards the same substances! What's your name?" Kain asks excitedly.

Before Sollux can answer though, the eager man just grabs his left arm and looks at the bracelet. "So SC202 is it? Looks like Morton's handiwork if I may say so, hope he wasn't too rough on you. That man can get a bit… peculiar at times, hates being interrupted." Kain says as he writes something down on a clipboard. "MC201, could you take a seat on the table? I'm going to take a look at the brand to make sure it isn't starting to get infected. Happened once a while ago; tissue rot so close to the brain, the poor creature didn't make it."

While Dr. Kain talks on and on while exanimating his brother, Sollux decides to look around the room. Noting that in the confusion Hektor has left them alone with the eccentric doctor, but he doesn't dare trying to run, he can't leave Mituna all alone here. There is also a lot of interesting machines and equipment in here. Some of them he saw on the way to his cell yesterday, but just as he's about to touch a set of stethoscopes, Kain calls for his attention.

"SC202, if you could please take a seat? Perfect! Now according to Morton's notes, you're a bit on the small side for your age, but then again, children are so unpredictable at this age. Oh well, hopefully it won't be a problem later on." As with Mituna, Kain keeps talking on and on the whole time while he works. When he removes the gauze from Sollux's neck, the child whimpers and hisses in pain, but it's first when the doctor tries to clean off the old salve that the complication starts.

"SC202." Kain said warningly "If you don't sit still while I do this, then you leave me no other choice but to strap you down on the bed."

In the end, Sollux has to be restrained on his stomach again; his hand is held by Mituna as he cries and trembles in fear. He tries to be as still as he can, but whenever Kain touches his neck his body gives an unwilling jerk. When the brand finally is cleaned and redressed, Sollux is released from the restraints. The two children are left like sobbing messes; Sollux from the pain and Mituna from watching his brother in said pain and unable to do anything about it.

"You both braved that really well!" Kain says encouraging as he moves towards his desk, seemingly looking for something. "Ah! Here, a little token for your cooperation, now of you go, Hektor's waiting outside for you." The doctor shooed them away with a friendly smile.

 _'_ _Is he for real?'_ the brothers wonders as they look down on their lollipops, is it even a Saturday today?

,,-,,

The rest of the week progress in a similar manner; apparently Dr. Kain keeps a stash of lollipops for all his "good patients", while Dr. Morton apparently collects skeletons from the strangest creatures Sollux has ever seen. Between the two, Sollux would pick Dr. Kain any day; sure the two doctors did the same examinations, but the older of the two was way nicer about it. He also notices how Kain has taken a liking towards Mituna, which ultimately forces Sollux to spend more time with Dr. Morton.

He quickly learns how to deal with the doctor;

1\. 1. Don't interrupt him when he's talking

2\. 2. Do what you're told

3\. 3. Be still

4\. 4. Keep quiet

Following these rules the examinations tends to become less unpleasant, and at least the brand is deemed healed enough to be left alone, the wound thankfully didn't hurt as much anymore either. The food, to Sollux's disapproval, tastes so bland one could barely tell the difference between a piece of "meat" and a piece of potato, and yet they force them to eat it three times a day. By day four, Sollux could barely finish his portions before his appetite would disappear and one day he decided that he simply wasn't hungry, let's just say that force feeding was even more distressing than it sounded and not an experience he would like to repeat anytime soon.

He also misses his dad a lot. Why hasn't he come for them yet? Didn't he love them? Just thinking things like this made tears come to his eyes and he curled up tighter in the corner of their cell, with Mituna doing his best to be comforting, telling him that their dad was on his way.

,,-,,

Today marks their second week at the lab, Hektor bangs the cell bars like usual and tells them to "Wake the fuck up, it's a big day for you two today." And coming from Hektor, a man who greatly enjoys putting children in "their rightful place" to quote him from a previous day, this can't be good. And love and behold! Mituna is left in the care of Dr. Kain and Sollux can feel resentment towards his brother starting to grow, but quickly stomps it out, figuratively speaking of course, stomping in the hallway would make Hektor pull his hair like last time or squishing his arm till it creaked like another time. Point is; it isn't Mituna's fault that he got the nice doctor that gives candy whenever they're done with an appointment, instead of a mean one that doesn't treat him like a person.

So it is with resignation that Sollux lets Hektor take him to Morton's room, fearing what's in store for him.

The procedure starts out like normal, Morton consulting his clipboard, taking yet another blood sample… _'why is he so obsessed with those?!'_ Kain only took one from him on the span of 5 days while Morton has taken 6 during the span of 9 days! The only positive thing about the common ordeal is that he's used to the needles and the pinpricks of pain by now. Which only saddens him further as he thinks about it, he just wants to curl up in his corner again and sleep for the rest of the day…

Why's Morton still fussing with his arm? Hasn't he taken enough blood by now? As if sensing the question, Morton choses now to speak;

"SC202, this is your start of a long journey for science," He says as he prepares a syringe with a nasty mustard looking liquid, which he then promptly plunges into Sollux's arm, which causes the child to whimper and whine "Make me proud." The man whispers into his ear.

Compared to the other needles this one does hurt more than the bee sting, way more in fact. It feels like his arm has been injected with a liquid fire that keeps spreading throughout his body, rendering him lying on his side as a quivering whining mess, with his tiny heart hammering in his ribcage and his breathing labored. He can't stop his movements or the noises that keeps getting past his lips and he knows that Dr. Morton doesn't like things like that. He's breaking rule 3 and 4 and essentially rule number 2 since he's been told again and again and _again_ to be _still_ and keep _quiet_ and yet he keeps breaking the rules again and _againANDAGAIN_! Oh god, OH GOD, he needs his dad, _HE NEEDS TUNA, HE'S GOING TO BE PUNISHED!_ Tears starts to run down his cheeks as he tries to fight the rising panic and yet no punishment comes, Dr. Morton just looks calmly at him and writes down stuff on the clipboard, leaving Sollux lying there on the table like a whining shivering leaf.

After what felt like days, but probably just a few hours, the tremors starts to subside and Dr. Morton forces him up on his trembling legs. "Remove your clothes and stand in that corner over there." Sollux doesn't dare go against the order as he shakily makes his way towards what looks like photography equipment and begin to undress till he was just in his underwear.

"The underwear too, SC202, I want to capture your whole transformation and see how much the results differs from person to person." The man tells him calmly as he prepares an expensive looking camera.

Whit a quivering lip and trembling hands, Sollux hesitantly removes the last garment, feeling incredible small an exposed.

"Good, now stand with your feet slightly apart, hands at your sides and look at me. Good, now stay still." The whole procedure, while being both embarrassing and scary, goes relatively fast and Sollux is allowed to put on his clothes again.

"Hektor, bring SC202 back to its cell again, I'm done with it for the day."

Sollux's face fell even more, _'It? I have been reduced to an it?'_ and his mood only worsens as Hektor barges in.

"Come here you little monster, back in the cage with you." The man says jokingly as he reaches for Sollux's tender arm.

And something in him just snaps, and before he can comprehend what just happened he's wrestled down on the floor on his stomach, arms secured behind his back by a large hand.

"This is what I mean! I keep telling both _you_ and _Dain_ that these _monsters_ ," he jostles Sollux, pushing his small body harder against the floor, earning a whine from the child. "needs to know their place as soon as they get here! Its been what? Two weeks? And the little monstrosity _already_ tries to bite my hand of!" Hektor yells, he's so furious that the vein on his neck stands out and his face's red from the pent up anger.

"I like him." Dr. Morton says with a smug smile where he sits at his desk "He'll keep you on your toes."

"FUCK YOU, MORTON!" Hektor roars as he drags Sollux mercilessly behind him by the hair of his neck. The screams from the child could be heard through the larger parts of the building.

,,-,,

He's unceremoniously thrown into his cell, his head aches where Hektor pulled him. _'Tuna isn't here yet.'_ He thinks sadly and shuffles towards is bed in the corner, where he promptly curls into a ball and cradles his swollen arm and aching head. _'It feels like I could sleep forever… Dad, where are you? I miss you.'_ He thinks as tears once again runs down his cheek.

When Mituna finally comes back he has two lollipops with him "one for you and one for SC202, but just this time." Kain had said with a friendly wink, but when Mituna tries to give Sollux the small gift, his brother ignores him and just huddles closer to the corner.

"O-okay, I'll juth leave it here for later when you want it, okay?" The corners of Mituna's mouth turns down as his brother once again ignores him and he can't keep the tears from coming. He has seen his brother down before, but never like this, maybe he could ask Dr. Kain to take both of them? He absentmindedly rubs his own swollen arm as he lies down on his bed, cradling the appendage close to his body, hoping that his brother will acknowledge him again after some rest.


	5. New Meeting

I'm so, soo sorry for the long wait, the chapter's been done for weeks and I posted it immediately on AO3, but forgot to do the same here ^^;

* * *

 **\- Chapter 4: New Meeting -**

To Mituna's worry, Sollux refused to acknowledge him the next day, or the day after that, or even the day after that for that matter. His baby brother hadn't touched his food either and only left his dark corner when he had to relieve himself on the cell toilet, which didn't leave much for privacy, but at least they had that luxury. Even if he feels ashamed for it, Mituna feels relieved when the staff intervenes and forces some food into his brother, even if said brother's keening, kicking and just struggling like no tomorrow and most likely is hurting himself more than hurting the ones holding him down. When the ordeal is done, Mituna almost expects Sollux to crawl back to his corner, but to his shameful delight, Sol is making his way towards him!

"Hi Thol." He murmurs as he pets his baby brothers hair like usual while the other crawls up into his lap, holding him tight like he's afraid Mituna will disappear. "I mithhed you, you know and you really thcared me there Thol."

"'M thorry…" the other whimpers out.

"Huthh, I know you are and I know how you can get, but pleathe, don't thhut me out like that, we only have each other till dad findth uth."

"I dun feel tho good, Tuna…"

"Underthandable, but try and keep the food down pleathe, I don't know how often they clean the roomth." Mituna says half joking half seriously, to which Sollux smiles at as he makes himself comfortable in Mituna's embrace.

,,-,,

"Tuna… Tuna? Tuna!" Sollux calls as he tries to wake his brother up, he's scared and something doesn't feel right. His left arm stings with the movement, they had their second shoot of the nasty substance the previous day and the doctors had apparently agreed on that only administer it once each week, something about "overdose", "shock" and "deadly". Sollux decided to not dwell on the thought that this nasty shit might be _really bad_ for him if given too often. But that's beside the point! Their strange neighbor across, with something heavy dragging after them when walking, isn't moving! And Sollux doesn't know what to do and Mituna just refuses to wake up!

"Thoool… u can thop thhaking me now… 'm awake" comes his brothers groggy response, his hair in every direction as he slowly sits up. "Tho, what'th the ruthh?" He asks while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Sollux just points towards the cage across from theirs.

"Thol, I don't underthand what I'm thupothed to look at."

"They… they're not moving, they're uthually moving by now." Sollux says worriedly.

Before the other has time to come up with an answer to the question, the large door to the block burst open with a heavy bang and about five handlers march past them.

Sollux and Mituna looks on in horror as the handlers goes into the cage and shortly thereafter drags out the limp shape of… something? Human? It… They have four arms and the legs looked extremely disfigured, like they hadn't, or rather couldn't be used for walking anymore. Was this what had caused the dragging sound whenever they moved over there in the darkness?

 _"_ _Happened once a while ago; tissue rot so close to the brain, the poor creature didn't make it."_ Sollux recalls with horror, where they planning to do this to them? Turning them into those… creatures?!

A flash of a sinister smile and gleeful eyes. Hektor. His eyes meet Sollux's as they drag the body past their cell.

"Is the little monster enjoying the view?" Hektor taunts, but Sollux noticed how the other handlers look amongst themselves, curiosity? Shock? Amusement? Confusion?

"Taketh one to know one, tho you tell me." The six year old mouths back, he never claimed he knew when to keep his mouth shut. Mituna just wants to hit his brother for getting into trouble, again, but settles with giving himself a face palm.

"Why you little shit!" The man growls "Want me to go in there and show you some fucking manners?! HUH?!" He rages as he walks to their door, ready to make true to his promise.

Mituna flinches while Sollux stubbornly holds his position.

"Bring it on Dickh-mmpfh?!" Was all Sollux got out before Mituna clamps a trembling hand over his mouth.

"W-What he meant ith that heth thorry, h-he didn't mean any of it." The older brother pleads, hoping that Hektor will just leave them alone.

"Hektor, you can torment the pipsqueaks' later, Dr. Morton wants the body delivered to him." A somewhat familiar man says, if only Sollux could place the name…

"Shut it Dain, looks like you two are lucky today huh?" He says, glaring towards the brothers as he stalks off with the others, the dragging body leaving a trail of what might be blood in a strange muddy color behind.

,,-,,

 **2 Months since first injection**.

"How come they haven't brought uth to thith room before?" Sollux ask to no one in particular while looking over the new room with its inhabitants. Coming to think about it, this is the first time either of the brothers saw kids their own age for, well, a long time.

"Ith thith a common room, Hektor?" Mituna ask their handler politely, seeing no point in making the man angrier than usual.

"Yes." The man answers with a bored tone. "Dr. Kain wanted a social experiment with this batch, fucking nut-job if you ask me." Hektor grumbled.

Well that was more than either of the brothers expected to get from him, figure something this nice would be Tuna's nice doctor's doing, Sollux thought with a slight frown. No matter how much Mituna had begged Kain, the man still didn't want to take on the youngest and Sollux actually started to fear that he really was a monster and that's why only Morton wanted to deal with him. As if reading his mind back then, Mituna had assured him it was because each experiment were assigned a permanent doctor and that Sollux just had been _really_ unlucky. Just thinking about that man's angry face from their last session made his arm and mouth throb with pain. He had acted out again after the usual shoot, _Morton_ had slapped him for that, which was a huge surprise since that was usually Hektor's favorite job, and knocked out a loose tooth. What the doctor wanted with his tooth still remains a mystery, but Sollux suspect that he just wants the Tooth Fairy's money. Maybe he can keep his third tooth to himself? It should come out any day now by how loose it is!

A push from behind brought Sollux back from his thoughts and right after he had steadied himself, the bared door shut tight with a loud bang…. This brought the attention of everyone in the room onto the two brothers; let's just say that both of them finally understood the saying "caught like a deer in the headlight."

The other kids fortunately quickly lost interest in them and Sollux notice how many of them that looks sick. Sickly looking pale skin, bags beneath the eyes like they couldn't get enough sleep, wincing and either clutching their heads or what Sollux referred to as "the experimentation arm".

"What'th wrong with them?" he whispers to Mituna.

"I don't know, maybe they've been here longer than uth?" The older suggests with a shrug.

"Hi there my miraculous motherfuckers, this brother here haven't been up and seeing your faces before."

The kid walks lazily up to them with a calm friendly smile on his face and half lidded eyes. Like the rest of them, the new kid is wearing the same light gray plain t-shirt and sweatpants.

"So what are you two motherfuckers called? I'm Gamzee, Gamzee Motherfucking Makara, honk!" The newly dubbed Gamzee says with the same smile still plastered on his face, the last sound however startled the two brothers.

"Oh, um, hi? I'm Mituna and thith ith my little brother Thollukth. Do, do you allwayth curthe tho much?"

"Dad thaid he'd wathh our mouthth with thoap if we curthed like that." Sollux says with a timid voice behind Mituna.

To this Gamzee just starts honking like he was laughing. "Come bestest friends, I want you to meet my other bestest friend, honk!" He motions for them to follow and together they walk further into the common room.

"Hey Eridan! This is Mituna and Thollukth, they're like motherfucking new here!"

The other boy didn't look impressed and raises a dark eyebrow. "W-what kind of name is _Thollukth_?"

Sollux decides that he doesn't like the new kid and glares. "Ith with an _eth_ and an _ekth_!" He shouts furiously, what's with everyone and making fun of the way he speaks?!

"W-with w-what?" The other teases and tilts his head like he's looking down on them despite being nearly the same height.

"I think he meant an 's' and an 'x', but I could be motherfucking wrong." The lanky kid injects as he scratches his head and shrugs.

"Thank you, Gamthee."

"W-way to ruin the fun Gam." Eridan pouts. "Soooo, did your parents leav-ve you here? I bet they did, you don't really look that w-wealthy."

"Dad, did not leave uth here! He'th looking for uth right now and he'll thoon find uth!" Sollux shouts in Eridan's face and the other have the decency to look surprised with the outburst.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

" _Are not_!" Eridan pushes Sollux roughly, making the other stumble backwards.

" _Are too_!" Sollux shouts as he pushes Eridan back and from out there a fight breaks out between the two. Mituna and Gamzee desperately try to break the two apart before the handlers' sees what's happening. Unfortunately, luck is not on their side.

"What's going on here!" One of them roars.

' _Hektor!_ ' Sollux freeze abruptly, which turns out to be a slight mistake. Eridan hadn't accounted for this and his thrown punch only stopped when it connected to his rival's face. Shell chocked, Eridan just stands there as Sollux spit out a bloody tooth into his palm.

"Well if it isn't the little monster, I should've known that you would be involved." Hektor glances at Eridan before he grabs his arm and inspect his tag. "AQ-12-EA107, eh? Piece of advice kid, don't get involved with this one," He says as let's his hand rest upon Sollux's head "It might rip your throat out when you let your guard down." The man teases with a cruel smile and Sollux just hopes he don't look to be so close to tears as he feels and discreetly tries to wipe his face, only for his arm to be stopped and held tightly. "Now, what do you got there?" Hektor says in a singsong tone and applies more pressure on the arm.

"Hey motherfucker, that ain't nice what you're doing to Solbro!" Gamzee shouts in protest while holding back Mituna, who can't do anything else but to shout.

"Let my brother go!"

"Do I look like I care?" Hektor says in a low dangerous tone and finally gets Sollux to open his tiny fist containing the tooth. "I'll take that one." He says as he plucks the tooth from the palm.

"No! It'th mine!"

"What are you going to do with it? Put it beneath your pillow and hope the Tooth Fairy will come? HA! That bitch doesn't exist! There's no such thing as the Tooth Fairy!"

,,-,,

"Guess who got into a fight with one from the Aquarius holding?" Hektor announce as he enters 's personal study.

"I can imagen wasn't too happy." Morton says with a smirk. "Anything else?"

"The little freak dropped this." He says as he holds up the baby tooth between his thumb and his pointer. The other man holds out his hand and then brings it up to his eyes to inspect the tooth closer.

"A molar." The doctor says with a wistful look. "Thank you, Hektor. Now if that was all, I still have an important guest to entertain."

"Yes sir, my lady." He says and gives a little bow to the last person before walking out.

"I'd say that _our_ little _social experiment_ is going well, or what do you think, _Condes_?" Morton says with a cruel edge and a dangerous glint in his eyes, not particularly directed towards the young woman sitting across from him, but to the scenario they're playing.

"Oh yes, he's going to be beautiful when he's fully grown." She says with a playful voice. "When do you think we should start phase two? Is one year too soon?"

"Let's see how he reacts to the treatment."

"Won't the fact that he's sharing cell with his brother hinder the process? I do after all want our little Gemini to be loyal only to me and nobody else."

"I'm afraid if they don't, he will break and then he would be of no use to you. He's shown signs of depression and the staff has forced him to eat on no less than two occasions so far. I believe this is the beginning of something more serious and that we will need MC201 to ground him."

"I suppose you're right." Condes nearly whines like a spoiled child. "I can barely wait till I have my new _pet_." She sighs wistfully.

,,-,,

Karkat glares at the overly bright sky. It has no right to look so bright when everything around him is falling into pieces. His mom and dad are standing in front of the coffin where Simon Captor lies, his best friend's father is dead and said best friend is still missing without a trace.

What if Sollux's dead? Dead means that they never ever will come back again, right? They were supposed to start pre-school together in two weeks! He has to come back! Otherwise Karkat will be all alone… making friends has never been his strongest side and with Sollux he would've had someone at least.

He's brought back from his thoughts when the priest finishes his speech and everyone starts throwing their flower carefully on the casket after it has been lowered down to the bottom of the grave. His father isn't taking the whole procedure that well, even Karkat can tell that he's crumbling, but Carmine holds it together. Or at least till they get home again, then he breaks down and locks himself into their bedroom for hours.

Dinner's never been that quiet before, or maybe it was when Simon's death just happened, but it got better, until now that is. No one has much of an appetite and when Karkat's tucked into bed for the evening, he wishes for one thing;

He just wants to hear that lisping voice call him "KK" again…

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Ideas on what you want to see happen in this fic is welcome as well as feedback of any kind (except for flames, I want constructive critic) :)

I'm also thinking of posting updates on the progress for this story as well as art on my tumblr with the same name as here, my AO3 account also has the same name :)

Until next time!


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